Transcriber's note:For the benefit of certain readers, explanatory names have been added tosome illustration tags and these have been identified with an asterisk. _Bulletin Number Eight Price Thirty-five Cents_ A CATALOGUE OF PLAY EQUIPMENT _Compiled by_ JEAN LEE HUNT BUREAU _of_ EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENTS 16 WEST 8TH STREET, NEW YORK 1918 [Illustration: Wooden wheel-barrow and cabinet. ]* [Illustration: Children at play. ]* INTRODUCTION What are the requisites of a child's laboratory? What essentials mustwe provide if we would deliberately plan an environment to promote thedevelopmental possibilities of play? These questions are raised with ever-increasing insistence as the truenature of children's play and its educational significance come to bematters of more general knowledge and the selection of play equipmentassumes a corresponding importance in the school and at home. To indicate some fundamental rules for the choice of furnishings andtoys and to show a variety of materials illustrating the basis ofselection has been our aim in compiling the following brief catalogue. We do not assume the list to be complete, nor has it been theintention to recommend any make or pattern as being indispensable oras having an exclusive right to the field. On the contrary, it is ourchief hope that the available number and variety of such materials maybe increased to meet a corresponding increase of intelligent demand onthe part of parents and teachers for equipment having real dignity andplay value. The materials listed were originally assembled in the Exhibit of Toysand School Equipment shown by the Bureau of Educational Experiments inthe Spring and Summer of 1917, and we wish to make acknowledgment, therefore, to the many who contributed to that exhibit and by so doingto the substance of the following pages. Chief among them are TeachersCollege, The University of Pittsburgh, The Ethical Culture School, ThePlay School and other experimental schools described in our bulletins, numbers 3, 4 and 5. The cuts have been chosen for the most part from photographs of thePlay School, where conditions fairly approximate those obtainable inthe home and thus offer suggestions easily translatable by parentsinto terms of their own home environment. While this equipment is especially applicable to the needs of childrenfour, five and six years old, most of it will be found well adapted tothe interests of children as old as eight years, and some of it tothose of younger children as well. BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL EXPERIMENTS. New York City, June, 1918. [Illustration: Children at play. ]* OUT-OF-DOOR FURNISHINGS Out-of-door Furnishings should be of a kind to encourage creative playas well as to give exercise. Playground apparatus, therefore, in addition to providing for bigmuscle development should combine the following requisites: Intrinsic value as a toy or plaything. "The play of children on it and with it must be spontaneous. "[A] Adaptability to different kinds of play and exercise. "It must appeal to the imagination of the child so strongly that new forms of use must be constantly found by the child himself in using it. "[A] Adaptability to individual or group use. It should lend itself to solitary play or to use by several players at once. Additional requisites are: Safety. Its use should be attended by a minimum of danger. Suitable design, proper proportions, sound materials and careful construction are essentials. Durability. It must be made to withstand hard use and all kinds of weather. To demand a minimum of repair means also to afford a maximum of security. [Footnote A: Dr. E. H. Arnold, "Some Inexpensive PlaygroundApparatus. " Bul. 27, Playground Association of America. ] [Illustration: The city yard equipped to give a maximum of exerciseand creative play] [Illustration: An outdoor play area. ]* THE OUTDOOR LABORATORY In the country, ready-to-hand resources, trees for climbing, thefive-barred fence, the pasture gate, the stone wall, the wood-pile, Mother Earth to dig in, furnish ideal equipment for the muscledevelopment of little people and of their own nature afford theessential requisites for creative and dramatic play. To theirsurpassing fitness for "laboratory" purposes each new generation bearstestimony. If the furnishings of a deliberately planned environmentare to compare with them at all they must lend themselves to the samefreedom of treatment. The apparatus shown here was made by a local carpenter, and couldeasily be constructed by high school pupils with the assistance of themanual training teacher. The ground has been covered With a layer of fine screened gravel, aparticularly satisfactory treatment for very little children, as it isrelatively clean and dries quickly after rain. It does not lend itselfto the requirements of organized games, however, and so will notanswer for children who have reached that stage of play development. A number of building bricks, wooden boxes of various sizes, pieces ofboard and such "odd lumber" with a few tools and out-of-door toyscomplete the yard's equipment. [Illustration: THE SEE-SAW. ]* THE SEE SAW BOARD--Straight grain lumber, 1-1/8" x 9" x 12'-0". Two cleats 1-1/4" x 9" bolted to the under side of the board to act as a socket on the hip of the horse. HORSE--Height 25". Length 22-1/2". Spread of feet at ground 20". Legsbuilt of 2" x 3" material. Hip of 2" x 3" material. Brace under hip of7/8" material. NOTE--All figures given are for outside measurements. Apparatus exceptsee-saw board and sliding board should be painted, especially thoseparts which are to be put into the ground. [Illustration: THE STAND AND SLIDE. ]* THE STAND AND SLIDE STAND OR PLATFORM--26" wide, 30" long, 5'-4" high. Top made of 1-3/8" tongue and groove material. Uprights or legs of 2" x 3" material. Cleats nailed to front legs 6-1/4" apart to form ladder are of 1-1/8" x 1-3/4" material. Cross bracing of 7/8" x 2-1/4" material. Apron under top made of 7/8" x 5" material nailed about 1-1/8" below to act as additional bracing and provide place of attachment for iron hooks secured to sliding board. The stand is fastened to the ground by dogs or pieces of wood buried deep enough (about 3') to make it secure. SLIDE--Straight grain piece of lumber, 1-1/8" x 12" x 12'-0". Two hooks at upper end of sliding board are of iron, about 3/8" x 1-1/2", set at a proper angle to prevent board from becoming loose. Hooks are about 1-1/4" long. [Illustration: THE SWINGING ROPE. ]* THE SWINGING ROPE UPRIGHT--3" x 3" x 6'-9". TOP PIECE--3" x 3" x 2'-9". Upright and top piece are mortised or halved and bolted together. Bracing at top (3" x 3" x 20-1/2" at long point of mitre cuts) is nailed to top piece and upright at an angle of about 45 degrees. Upright rests on a base measuring 3'-0". This is mortised together and braced with 2" x 3" material about 20" long, set at an angle of about 60 degrees. Unless there are facilities for bracing at the top, as shown in the cut, the upright should be made longer and buried about 3' in the ground. The swinging rope (3/4" dia. ) passes through a hole bored in the top piece and held in place by a knot. Successive knots tied 8" to 9" apart and a big knot at the bottom make swinging easier for little folks. [Illustration: THE TRAPEZE. ]* THE TRAPEZE TWO UPRIGHTS--3" x 3" x 6'-10". TOP PIECE--3" x 3" x 2'-10". Ends of top piece secured to uprights by being mortised or halved and bolted together. Uprights rest on bases of 2" x 3" material, 3'-7" long, connected by a small platform in the form of an H. Bases and uprights are bolted to dogs or pieces of wood 2" x 4" x 5'-8" set in the ground about 3'-0". Adjustable bar (round) 1-3/8" dia. 3 holes bored in each upright provide for the adjustable bar. The first hole is 3'-0" above ground, the second 3'-5", the third 3'-10". Swing bar (round), 1-3/8" dia. , is 20" long. Should hang about 16" below top piece. 2 holes 5/8" dia. Bored in the top piece receive a continuous rope attached to the swing bar by being knotted after passing through holes (5/8" dia. ) in each end of the bar. [Illustration: THE LADDER AND SUPPORT. ]* THE LADDER AND SUPPORT LADDER--14" x 10'-2" Sides of 1-1/2" x 1/2" material Rungs 1/4" dia. Set 10-1/4" apart At upper ends of the sides a u-shaped cut acts as a hook for attaching the ladder to the cross bar of the support. These ends are re-inforced with iron to prevent splitting. SUPPORT--Height 4'-6". Spread of uprights at base 4'-2". Uprights of 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" material are secured to a foot (1-1/2" x 4" x 20-1/2") with braces (11-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 12") set at an angle of about 60°. Tops of the two uprights are halved and bolted to a cross bar 1-1/8" x 2-1/2" x 10" long. The uprights are secured with diagonal braces 1-3/8" x 3-1/2" x 3'-9" fastened together where they intersect. [Illustration: A pretend airship. ]* A borrowed step ladder converts this gymnastic apparatus into anairship. [Illustration: A borrowed ladder helps the game. ]* The ladder detached from the support is an invaluable adjunct tobuilding and other operations. [Illustration: The Parallel Bars. ]* THE PARALLEL BARS The two bars are 2" x 2-1/4" X 6'-10" and are set 16-1/2" to 18-1/2"apart. The ends are beveled and the tops rounded. Each bar is nailed to two uprights (2" X 3" X 5'-0") set 5' apart andextending 34" above ground. An overhang of about 6" is allowed at eachend of the bar. [Illustration: The sand box. ]* THE SAND BOX The sloping cover to the sand box pictured here has been found to havemany uses besides its obvious purpose of protection against strayanimals and dirt. It is a fairly good substitute for the old-timecellar door, that most important dramatic property of a play era pastor rapidly passing. [Illustration: Sand box with cover closed. ]* [Illustration: Box village. ]* BOX VILLAGE The child is to be pitied who has not at some time revelled in apacking-box house big enough to get into and furnished by his ownefforts. But a "village" of such houses offers a greatly enlargedfield of play opportunity and has been the basis of Miss Mary Rankin'sexperiment on the Teachers College Playground. [B] In addition to its more obvious possibilities for constructive andmanual development, Miss Rankin's experiment offers social featuresof unusual suggestiveness, for the village provides a civic experiencefairly comprehensive and free from the artificiality that is apt tocharacterize attempts to introduce civic content into school and playprocedure. [Footnote B: See "Teachers College Playground, " Bulletin No. 4, Bureauof Educational Experiments. ] [Illustration: Of interest to carpenters. ] [Illustration: A boom in real estate. ] [Illustration: Boy playing pretend piano. ]* INDOOR EQUIPMENT The requisites for indoor equipment are these: A Suitable Floor--The natural place for a little child to play is the floor and it is therefore the sine qua non of the play laboratory. Places to Keep Things--A maximum of convenience to facilitate habits of order. Tables and Chairs--For use as occasion demands, to supplement the floor, not to take the place of it. Blocks and Toys--For initial play material. The Carpenter's Bench--With tools and lumber for the manufacture of supplementary toys. A supply of Art and Craft materials--For the same purpose. [Illustration: The Indoor Laboratory. ] THE INDOOR LABORATORY The _floor_ should receive first consideration in planning the indoorlaboratory. It should be as spacious as circumstances will permit andsafe, that is to say clean and protected from draughts and dampness. A well-kept hardwood floor is the best that can be provided. Individual light rugs or felt mats can be used for the youngerchildren to sit on in cold weather if any doubt exists as to theadequacy of heating facilities (see cut, p. 32). Battleship linoleum makes a good substitute for a hardwood finish. Itcomes in solid colors and can be kept immaculate. Deck canvas stretched over a layer of carpet felt and painted makes awarm covering, especially well adapted to the needs of very littlechildren, as it has some of the softness of a carpet and yet can bescrubbed and mopped. Second only in importance is the supply of _lockers_, _shelves_, _boxes_ and _drawers_ for the disposal of the great number and varietyof small articles that make up the "tools and appliances" of thelaboratory. The cut on page 24 shows a particularly successfularrangement for facilities of this kind. The _chairs_ shown are the Mosher kindergarten chairs, which come inthree sizes. The light _tables_ can be folded by the children and putaway in the biggest cupboard space (p. 24). _Block boxes_ are an essential part of the equipment. Their dimensionsshould be planned in relation to the unit block of the set used. Thoseshown are 13-3/4" X 16-1/2" X 44" (inside measurements) for use with aset having a unit 1-3/8" X 2-3/4" X 5-1/2". They are on castors andcan be rolled to any part of the room. The low _blackboards_ are 5'-5" in height and 2'-0" from the floor. All the furnishings of the laboratory should lend themselves to use asdramatic properties when occasion demands, and a few may be kept forsuch purposes alone. The light screens in the right-hand corner of theroom are properties of this kind and are put to an endless number ofuses (see cut, p. 40). [Illustration: The balcony in a room with high ceiling. ] [Illustration: The balcony and a low ceiling. ] The _balcony_ is a device to increase floor space that has been usedsuccessfully in The Play School for several years. It is very popularwith the children and contributes effectively to many play schemes. The tall block construction representing an elevator shaft shown inthe picture opposite would never have reached its "Singer Towerproportions" without the balcony, first to suggest the project andthen to aid in its execution. _Drop shelves_ like those along the wall of the "gallery" (p. 22) canbe used for some purposes instead of tables when space is limited. Materials for storekeeping play fill the shelves next the fireplace, and the big crock on the hearth contains modelling clay, the rawmaterial of such objets d'art as may be seen decorating themantlepiece in the cut on page 20. [Illustration: A place for everything] [Illustration: The indoor sandbox. ]* THE INDOOR SAND BOX The indoor _Sand Box_ pictured here was designed by Mrs. Hutchinsonfor use in the nursery at Stony Ford. A box of this kind is ideal forthe enclosed porch or terrace and a great resource in rainy weather. The usual kindergarten sand table cannot provide the same playopportunity that is afforded by a floor box, but it presents fewerproblems to the housekeeper and is always a valuable adjunct to indoorequipment. [Illustration: The Carpenter Bench. ]* THE CARPENTER BENCH The carpenter equipment must be a "sure-enough business affair, " andthe tools real tools--not toys. The Sheldon bench shown here is a real bench in every particularexcept size. The tool list is as follows: Manual training hammer. 18 point cross-cut saw. 9 point rip saw. Large screw driver, wooden handle. Small screw driver. Nail puller. Stanley smooth-plane, No. 3. Bench hook. Brace and set of twist bits. Manual training rule. Steel rule. Tri square. Utility box--with assorted nails, screws, etc. Combination India oil stone. Oil can. Small hatchet. Choice of lumber must be determined partly by the viewpoint of theadult concerned, largely by the laboratory budget, and finally by thesupply locally available. Excellent results have sometimes beenachieved where only boxes from the grocery and left-over pieces fromthe carpenter shop have been provided. Such rough lumber affords goodexperience in manipulation, and its use may help to establish habitsof adapting materials as we find them to the purposes we have in hand. This is the natural attack of childhood, and it should be fostered, for children can lose it and come to feel that specially preparedmaterials are essential, and a consequent limitation to ingenuity andinitiative can thus be established. On the other hand, some projects and certain stages of experience arebest served by a supply of good regulation stock. Boards of soft pine, white wood, bass wood, or cypress in thicknesses of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2"and 7/8" are especially well adapted for children's work, and "stockstrips" 1/4" and 1/2" thick and 2" and 3" wide lend themselves to manypurposes. [Illustration: Boy painting toy. ]* [Illustration: Girl playing with dolls house. ]* TOYS The proper basis of selection for toys is their efficiency as toys, that is: They must be suggestive of play and made for play. They should be selected in relation to each other. They should be consistent with the environment of the child who is to use them. They should be constructed simply so that they may serve as models for other toys to be constructed by the children. They should suggest something besides domestic play so that the child's interest may be led to activities outside the home life. They should be durable because they are the realities of a child's world and deserve the dignity of good workmanship. [Illustration: Children re-create the world as they see it with theequipment they have at hand] [Illustration: A house of blocks. ]* FLOOR GAMES "There comes back to me the memory of an enormous room with itsceiling going up to heaven.... It is the floor I think of chiefly, over the oilcloth of which, assumed to be land, spread towns andvillages and forts of wooden bricks... The cracks and spaces of thefloor and the bare brown "surround" were the water channels and opensea of that continent of mine.... "Justice has never been done to bricks and soldiers by those who writeabout toys--my bricks and my soldiers were my perpetual drama. Irecall an incessant variety of interests. There was the mystery andcharm of the complicated buildings one could make, with long passagesand steps and windows through which one could peep into theirintricacies, and by means of slips of card one could make slantingways in them, and send marbles rolling from top to base and thence outinto the hold of a waiting ship.... And there was commerce; the shopsand markets and storerooms full of nasturtium seed, thrift seed, lupinbeans and such-like provender from the garden; such stuff one storedin match boxes and pill boxes or packed in sacks of old glove fingerstied up with thread and sent off by wagons along the great militaryroad to the beleaguered fortress on the Indian frontier beyond theworn places that were dismal swamps.... "I find this empire of the floor much more vivid in my memory now thanmany of the owners of the skirts and legs and boots that went gingerlyacross its territories. " H. G. WELLS, "The New Machiavelli, " Chapter 2. [Illustration: The unsocial novice] Nowhere else, perhaps, not even in his "Floor Games" and "Little Wars"has Mr. Wells, or any other author succeeded in drawing so convincinga picture of the possibilities of constructive play as is to be foundin those pages, all too brief, in "The New Machiavelli" where the playlaboratory at Bromstead is described. One can imagine the eager boywho played there looking back across the years strong in theconviction that it could not have been improved, and yet the pictureof a child at solitary play is not, after all, the ideal picture. Ourlaboratory, while it must accommodate the unsocial novice and makeprovision for individual enterprise at all ages and stages, must beabove all the place where the give and take of group play will developalong with block villages and other community life in miniature. FLOOR BLOCKS In his reminiscences of his boyhood play Mr. Wells lays emphasis onhis great good fortune in possessing a special set of "bricks" made toorder and therefore sufficient in number for the ambitious floor gameshe describes. Comparatively few adults can look back to the possessionof similar play material, and so a majority cannot realize how itoutweighs in value every other type of toy that can be provided. Where the budget for equipment is limited, floor blocks can be cut bythe local carpenter or, in a school, by the manual trainingdepartment. The blocks in use at The Play School (see cut, p. 20) areof white wood, the unit block being 1-3/8" X 2-3/4" X 5-1/2". Theyrange in size from half units and diagonals to blocks four times theunit in length (22"). [Illustration: The Hill Floor Blocks at the Gregory Avenue School] At present there is but one set of blocks on the market thatcorresponds to the one Mr. Wells describes. These are the "_Hill FloorBlocks_, " manufactured and sold by A. Schoenhut & Co. , ofPhiladelphia. They are of hard maple and come in seven sizes, from 3"squares to oblongs of 24", the unit block being 6" in length. Thereare 680 pieces in a set. Half and quarter sets are also obtainable. They are the invention of Professor Patty Smith Hill of TeachersCollege, Columbia University, and are used in The Teachers CollegeKindergarten and in many other schools. [Illustration: Useful alike to builders and cabinet makers] [Illustration: Advanced research in Peg-Lock construction] The School of Childhood at the University of Pittsburgh makes use ofseveral varieties of blocks, some of commercial manufacture, otherscut to order. The list given is as follows:[C] A. Nest of blocks. B. Large blocks made to order of hard maple in five sizes: Cubes, 5" X 5". Oblongs, 2-1/2" X 5" X 10". Triangular prisms made by cutting cube diagonally into two and four parts. Pillars made by cutting oblongs into two parts. Plinths made by cutting oblongs into two parts. Light weight 12" boards, 3'-0" to 7'-0" long. C. Froebel's enlarged fifth and sixth gifts. D. Stone Anchor blocks. E. Architectural blocks for flat forms. F. Peg-Lock blocks. As children become more dexterous and more ambitious in their blockconstruction, the _Peg-Lock Blocks_ will be found increasinglyvaluable. These are a type of block unknown to Mr. Wells, but how hewould have revelled in the possession of a set! They are manufacturedby the Peg-Lock Block Co. Of New York. Cut on a smaller scale than theother blocks described, they are equipped with holes and pegs, bywhich they may be securely joined. This admits of a type ofconstruction entirely outside the possibilities of other blocks. Theycome in sets of varying sizes and in a great variety of shapes. TheSchool of Childhood uses them extensively, as does The Play School. [Footnote C: See University of Pittsburgh Bulletin, "Report of theExperimental Work in the School of Childhood. "] [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* FLOOR TOYS The "Do-with Toys" shown in the accompanying cuts were designed byMiss Caroline Pratt some years ago to meet the need generally felt bydevotees of the play laboratory of a consistent series of toys to beused with floor blocks. For if the market of the present day can offersomething more adequate in the way of blocks than was generallyavailable in Mr. Wells' boyhood, the same is not true when it comes tofacilities for peopling and stocking the resulting farms andcommunities that develop. Mr. Wells tells us that for his floor games he used tin soldiers andsuch animals as he could get--we know the kind, the lion smaller thanthe lamb, and barnyard fowl doubtless overtopping the commandingofficer. Such combinations have been known to children of allgenerations and play of the kind Mr. Wells describes goes on in spiteof the inconsistency of the materials supplied. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* But when we consider fostering such play, and developing itspossibilities for educational ends, the question arises whether thisis the best provision that can be made, or if the traditionalmaterial could be improved, just as the traditions concerning blocksare being improved. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* A few pioneers have been experimenting in this field for some yearspast. No one of them is ready with final conclusions but among themopinion is unanimous that constructive play is stimulated by aninitial supply of consistent play material calculated to suggestsupplementary play material of a kind children can manufacture forthemselves. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* Blocks are of course the most important type of initial material to beprovided; beyond this the generally accepted hypothesis is embodied inthe "Do-with" series which provides, first a doll family ofproportions suited to block houses, then a set of farm animals andcarts, then a set of wild animals, all designed on the same sizescale, of construction simple enough to be copied at the bench, andsuggesting, each set after its kind, a host of supplementary toys, limited in variety and in numbers only by the experience of the childconcerned and by his ability to construct them. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* This working hypothesis for the selection of toys is as yet but littleunderstood either by those who buy or those who sell play materials. The commercial dealer declares with truth that there is too littledemand to justify placing such a series on the market. Not only doeshe refuse to make "Do-withs" but he provides no adequate substitutes. His wooden toys are merely wooden ornaments without relation to anyseries and without playability, immobile, reasonless, for thephilosophy of the play laboratory is quite unknown to the makers ofplay materials, while those who buy are guided almost entirely byconvention and have no better standard by which to estimate whatconstitutes their money's worth. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* On the other hand enthusiasts raise the question, why supply any toys?Is it not better for children to make all their toys? And as MissPratt says, "getting ready for play is mistaken for play itself. " [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* Too much "getting ready" kills real play, and if our purpose is tofoster and enrich the actual activity, we must understand the subtlevalue of initial play materials, of having at hand ready for thepromptings of play impulse the necessary foundation stones on which asuperstructure of improvisation can be reared. [Illustration: Transportation Toys] [Illustration: A trunk line] When by hook or crook the devotees of floor games have secured apopulation and live stock for their block communities, then, as Mr. Wells reminds us, comes commerce and in her wake transportationproblems to tax the inventive genius of the laboratory. Simple transportation toys are the next need, and suitable ones cangenerally, though not always, be obtained in the shops. A fewwell-chosen pieces for initial material will soon be supplemented by"Peg-lock" or bench-made contrivances. For railroad tracks the block supply offers possibilities betteradapted to the ages we are considering than any of the elaborate railsystems that are sold with the high-priced mechanical toys sofascinating to adult minds. Additional curved blocks corresponding tothe unit block in width and thickness are a great boon to engineers, for what is a railroad without curves! Transportation toys can be perfectly satisfactory when not madestrictly to scale. Indeed, the exigencies of the situation generallydemand that realists be satisfied with rather wide departures from thegeneral rule. Train service, however, should accommodate at least onepassenger to a car. [Illustration: Play area. ]* LARGE AND SMALL SCALE TOYS The floor scheme pictured here is a good illustration of ourprinciples of selection applied to toys of larger scale. The dolls, the tea set, the chairs are from the toy shop. The little table in theforeground, and the bed are bench made. The bedding is of homemanufacture, the jardiniere too, is of modelling clay, gaily paintedwith water colors. The tea table and stove are improvised from blocksas is the bath room, through the door of which a block "tub" may beseen. The screen used as a partition at the back is one of the PlaySchool "properties" with large sheets of paper as panels. (See cut p. 20. ) There are some important differences, however, between the content ofa play scheme like this and one of the kind we have been considering(see cut page 30). These result from the size and character of theinitial play material, for dolls like these invite an entirelydifferent type of treatment. One cannot build villages, or provideextensive railroad facilities for them, nor does one regard them inthe impersonal way that the "Do-with" family, or Mr. Wells' soldiers, are regarded, as incidentals in a general scheme of things. These beings hold the centre of their little stage. They call foraffection and solicitude, and the kind of play into which they fit ismore limited in scope, less stirring to the imagination, but moreusual in the experience of children, because play material of thistype is more plentifully provided than is any other and, centeringattention as it does on the furnishings and utensils of the home, requires less contact with or information about, the world outside andits activities to provide the mental content for interesting play. [Illustration: A "Furnished Apartment" at the Ethical Culture School] In the epochs of play development interest in these larger scale toysprecedes that in more complicated schemes with smaller ones. Mr. Wells' stress on the desirability of a toy soldier population reallyreflects an adult view. For play on the toy soldier and paper dollscale develops latest of all, and because of the opportunities itaffords for schemes of correspondingly greater mental content makesspecial appeal to the adult imagination. Play material smaller than the "Do-with" models and better adapted tothis latest period than are either soldiers or paper dolls remains oneof the unexplored possibilities for the toy trade of the future. [Illustration: Supplementary (A small toy train. )] [Illustration: A play laundry. ]* HOUSEKEEPING PLAY Materials for housekeeping play are of two general kinds, according tosize--those intended for the convenience of dolls, and those of largerscale for children's use. The larger kind should be strong enough andwell enough made to permit of actual processes. Plentiful as such materials are in the shops, it is difficult toassemble anything approaching a complete outfit on the same sizescale. One may spend days in the attempt to get together one assatisfactory as that pictured here. The reason seems to be that forconsiderations of trade such toys are made and sold in sets of a fewpieces each. If dealers would go a step further and plan their sets inseries, made to scale and supplementing each other, they would betterserve the requirements of play, and, it would seem, their owninterests as well. STOREKEEPING PLAY From housekeeping play to storekeeping play is a logical step and oneabounding in possibilities for leading interest beyond the horizonline of home environment. Better than any toy equipment and within reach of every householdbudget is a "store" like the one pictured here where real cartons, boxes, tins and jars are used. [Illustration: A "Grocery Store" at the Ethical Culture School] Schools can often obtain new unfilled cartons from manufacturers. TheFels-Naphtha and National Biscuit companies are especially cordial torequests of this kind, and cartons from the latter firm are good forbeginners, as prices are plainly marked and involve only dime andnickel computation. The magazine "Educational Foundations" maintains adepartment which collects such equipment and furnishes it to publicschools on their subscribers' list. Sample packages add to interest and a small supply of actual staplesin bulk, or of sand, sawdust, chaff, etc. , for weighing and measuringshould be provided as well as paper, string, and paper bags ofassorted sizes. Small scales, and inexpensive sets of standard measures, dry andliquid, can be obtained of Milton Bradley and other school supplyhouses. A toy telephone and toy money will add "content, " and forolder children a "price and sign marker" (Milton Bradley) is avaluable addition. The School of Childhood (Pittsburgh) list includes the followingmiscellaneous articles for house and store play: spoons various sized boxes stones pebbles buttons shells spools bells enlarged sticks of the kindergarten ribbon bolts filled with sand rice shot bottles, etc. CRAFT AND COLOR MATERIALS Materials of this kind are a valuable part of any play equipment. Ofthe large assortment carried by kindergarten and school supply housesthe following are best adapted to the needs of the play laboratory: _Modelling Materials_--Modelling clay and plasticine, far from beingthe same, are supplementary materials, each adapted to uses for whichthe other is unsuited. _Weaving Materials_--Raphia, basketry reed, colored worsteds, cottonroving, jute and macrame cord can be used for many purposes. _Material for Paper Work_--Heavy oak tag, manila, and bogus papers forcutting and construction come in sheets of different sizes. Coloredpapers, both coated (colored on one side) and engine colored (coloredon both sides) are better adapted to "laboratory purposes" whenobtainable in large sheets instead of the regulation kindergartensquares. Colored tissue papers, scissors and library paste are alwaysin demand. _Color Materials_--Crayons, water color paints, chalks (for blackboarduse) are best adapted to the needs of play when supplied in a varietyof colors and shades. For drawing and painting coarse paper should befurnished in quantity and in sheets of differing sizes. "_If children are let alone with paper and crayons they will quicklylearn to use these toys quite as effectively as they do blocks anddolls. _" [Illustration: Children playing with wagon. ]* TOYS FOR ACTIVE PLAY AND OUTDOOR TOOLS Among the many desirable _toys for active play_ the following deserve"honorable mention": Express wagon Sled Horse reins "Coaster" or "Scooter" Velocipede (and other adaptations of the bicycle for beginners) Football (small size Association ball) Indoor baseball Rubber balls (various sizes) Bean bags Steamer quoits As in the case of the carpenter's bench it is poor economy to supplyany but good _tools_ for the yard and garden. Even the best gardensets for children are so far inferior to those made for adults as torender them unsatisfactory and expensive by comparison. It istherefore better to get light weight pieces in the smaller standardsizes and cut down long wooden handles for greater convenience. Theone exception to be noted is the boy's shovel supplied by the PeterHenderson company. This is in every respect as strong and well made asthe regulation sizes and a complete series to the same scale and ofthe same standard would meet a decided need in children's equipmentwhere light weight is imperative and hard wear unavoidable. In addition to the garden set of shovel, rake, hoe, trowel andwheel-barrow, a small crow-bar is useful about the yard and, inwinter, a light snow shovel is an advantage. JEAN LEE HUNT. [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* [Illustration: Small wooden toy. ]* A small permanent exhibit of the play equipment described may be seenat the Bureau of Educational Experiments, 16 West 8th Street, NewYork, and is occasionally loaned. SUGGESTED READING For convenience it has seemed well to divide the following list intotwo parts--the first devoted to the discussion of theory, the otheroffering concrete suggestions. Such a division is arbitrary, of course. No better exposition oftheory can be found than is contained in some of these referencesdealing with actual laboratory usage and furnishings. On the otherhand the two books by Dr. Kilpatrick, with their illuminating analysisof didactic materials, afford many concrete suggestions, at least onthe negative side. PART I. CHAMBERLIN, A. E. "The Child: A Study in the Evolution of Man, " Scribner, 1917. Chap. I, "The Meaning of the Helplessness of Infancy. " Chap. II, "The Meaning of Youth and Play. " Chap. IV, "The Periods of Childhood. " DEWEY, JOHN "Democracy and Education, " Macmillan, 1916. Chap. XV, "Play and Work in the Curriculum. " "How We Think, " D. C. Heath and Co. Chap. XVII, "Play, Work, and Allied Forms of Activity. " Chap. XVI, "Process and Product. " "Interest and Effort in Education, " Houghton Mifflin Co. , 1913. Chap. IV, "The Psychology of Occupations. " "The School and Society, " University of Chicago Press, 1916. Chap. IV, "The Psychology of Occupations. " Chap. VII, "The Development of Attention. " "Cyclopedia of Education, " Edited by Paul Monroe, Macmillan Co. Articles on "Infancy, " "Play. " DOPP, KATHERINE E. "The Place of Industries in Elementary Education, " University of Chicago Press, 1915. GROOS, KARL "The Play of Man, " Appleton, 1916. HALL, G. STANLEY "Educational Problems, " Appleton, 1911. Chap. I, "The Pedagogy of the Kindergarten. " "Youth: Its Regimen and Hygiene, " Appleton, 1916. Chap. VI, "Play, Sports and Games. " KILPATRICK, WILLIAM HEARD "The Montessori System Examined, " Houghton Mifflin, 1914. "Froebel's Kindergarten Principles Critically Examined, " Macmillan, 1916. LEE, JOSEPH "Play in Education, " Macmillan, 1915. WOOD, WALTER "Children's Play and Its Place in Education, " Duffield, 1913. PART II. ARNOLD, DR. E. H. "Some Inexpensive Playground Apparatus, " Bulletin No. 27, Playground Association of America and Playground Extension Committee of The Russell Sage Foundation. DEMING, LUCILE P. AND OTHERS "Playthings, " Bulletin No. I. "The Play School, " Bulletin No. III. "The Children's School, The Teachers College Playground, The Gregory School, " Bulletin No. IV. Bureau of Educational Experiments publications, 1917. CHAMBERS, WILL GRANT AND OTHERS "Report of the Experimental Work in the School of Childhood, " University of Pittsburgh Bulletin, 1916. COOK, H. CALDWELL "The Play Way, " Stokes Co. , 1917. CORBIN, ALICE M. "How to Equip a Playroom: the Pittsburgh Plan, " Bulletin No. 118, Playground and Recreation Association of America, 1913. DEWEY, JOHN AND EVELYN "Schools of To-morrow, " Dutton, 1915. Chap. V, "Play. " HALL, G. STANLEY "Aspects of Child Life, " Ginn, 1914. "The Story of a Sand Pile. " HETHERINGTON, CLARK W. "The Demonstration Play School of 1913, " University of California Bulletin, 1914. HILL, PATTY SMITH AND OTHERS "Experimental Studies in Kindergarten Education, " Teachers College publications, 1915. JOHNSON, GEORGE E. "Education by Plays and Games, " Ginn & Co. , 1907. LEE, JOSEPH "Play for Home, " Bulletin No. 102, Playground and Recreation Association of America. READ, MARY L. "The Mothercraft Manual, " Little, Brown & Co. , 1916. WELLS, H. G. "Floor Games, " Small, Maynard & Co. , 1912. "The New Machiavelli, " Duffield Co. , 1910. Chap. II, "Bromstead and My Father. "